Page 71 of My One and Only

She stood up and looked over at Cam. Mouthed ‘thank you’ to him.

Something moved in Cam’s chest as Jo disappeared into the house. Jo was remarkably good with Fiona. She seemed to know exactly what to say to keep her happy and excited about helping. As Fiona hopped toward the front door, Jo reappeared in the doorway. Cam grabbed Jo’s hand. Pressed a kiss to her palm and leaned close.

“Thank you,” he murmured. He felt her shiver when his breath brushed over her neck. “For making Fiona feel included instead of pushed to the side.”

Jo studied him for a moment, then her shoulders relaxed. “Fiona’s a great kid. It’s so much better to let her think she’s helping than to tell her to be patient and let the adults handle things.”

“I can’t imagine you’ve ever said that to any child you were protecting,” Cam said.

Jo’s shoulders tensed. “I’ve never had a protection job where a child was involved. This is new territory for me.”

“Based on the way you’re dealing with Fiona, you’re acing the test.”

Red flooded Jo’s cheeks. “Thanks for that, Cam.” She swallowed. “Other than my brief visits to my brothers’, I’ve never really interacted with kids before.”

“Hard to believe, Jo,” Cam said, draping his arm over her shoulder and leading her toward the front door. Fiona had squirmed beneath the bushes, looking for those lost dogs and cats. “You’re a natural with Fiona.”

“She’s a charming child, which makes it really easy.” She turned to study him. “I apologize for everything I’ve said about the way you’re raising her. You’ve done a wonderful job.”

Cam shook his head. “You were right to chew me a new one for not making an effort to get her connected with other kids. Watching her with the three girls from her class was a revelation. And I’ll talk to my mom. See if, after things are back to normal, she’d be willing to wait at the playground when the weather gets nicer while Fiona plays with other kids. Or have a friend or two over after school once or twice a week.”

“Great idea. And I think Fiona would love that,” she said as she opened the front door and waved him inside. She held back, turned to scan the street one last time before she followed Cam into the house. Made sure the door was locked.

While Jo helped Fiona with her homework again, Cam made spaghetti sauce and boiled water for the pasta. While that was cooking, he made a salad. But every few minutes, he snuck a glance at Jo and Fiona. Normally, he loved spending time with Fiona in the evening -- reading some books, giving her a bath, tucking her into bed.

And he’d do the same tonight. He wouldn’t shove Fiona aside because he wanted to spend time with Jo. Fiona would always come first for him. Fiona and any other children he might have in the future.

And why the hell was he thinking about future children? After the disaster of his relationship with Ashley, he was done with marriage. He’d date, maybe even get involved with other women. But he wouldn’t marry any of them. He wouldn’t take the chance of ruining the life he had with Fiona. Letting a woman get between him and his daughter.

He glanced at Jo again, then turned to the stove to stir the sauce. He might want to make love with Jo more than he wanted anything else right now. But that was as far as he’d go. Jo had a job that wasn’t here in Chicago. Even if he’d wanted a future with Jo, that wasn’t going to happen. He couldn’t move, and neither could she.

Disappointment squeezed his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it.

As he watched Jo and Fiona, Jo bent close and murmured something to Fiona. His daughter grinned and clapped her hands. “Yes!”she said.

He wondered what Jo had said to her. She was so good with Fiona. His daughter had clicked with her right away, and he saw in Fiona’s expression how much she liked Jo.

After finishing dinner, Jo retreated to her room, murmuring something about writing a report. She was in there for a long time, then she emerged with an e-reader in her hand. Sat on one of the living room chairs while he cuddled with Fiona on the couch and read her three books.

Finally, he wrapped his arm around his daughter’s shoulder. “Ready for a bath and bed, Fee?”

Fiona nodded, chewing on a fingernail, but she didn’t look excited. Sighing, she went into her room, found a pair of pajamas, then headed for his bathroom, where she usually took her bath.

As he finished washing her hair and poured warm water over her head to rinse out the shampoo, Fiona looked over at him. “Daddy, are more bad people going to come tonight? Try to hurt us?”

Cam swiped his hand over her wet hair. Squeezed out the excess water, then lifted her out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel. “No, baby, no one’s going to come to our house tonight. The guy from last night is still in jail. The Chief of Police called me today and told me he’d stay in jail until his trial. So there’s no way he can come back here.”

Fiona frowned at him as he toweled her hair dry, then grabbed the hair dryer and finished drying it. “Are you sure?”she finally asked, gnawing at a cuticle on her left hand.

“I’m positive, sweetheart. He’s in jail, and he’s going to stay there.”

“What if he had a friend? Would that friend come here tonight to hurt us?”

“No way, baby. If that bad man had a friend, the friend would see that the bad man is still in jail. He wouldn’t want that to happen tohim.”

“Are yousure, Daddy?”

He never wanted to lie to Fiona. And he couldn’t promise her that no one would try to hurt them again. “I can’t predict the future, baby. But I think we’re safe. Jo does a good job protecting us.”

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